photo by: Christopher Dacanay
Employee Michael Alicea, left, and manager Matt Cooper of the Holistic Cloud 2.0, a legal hemp store in Steubenville, stand in front of a mural painted by Alicea in the store’s Fort Steuben Mall location.
Based on the Nov. 7 election results for Issue 2 in Ohio, as much as 57 percent of the state’s voters are waiting for legislative adjustments to be finalized, paving the way for adult-use, recreational marijuana to hit stores.
Proposed by Issue 2 and enacted on Dec. 7, Chapter 3780 of Ohio Revised Code permits adults 21 and older to purchase, use, possess and cultivate recreational marijuana, and it provides guidelines for the drug’s regulation and taxation. But before individuals can purchase recreational marijuana at a licensed dispensary, the Ohio Legislature can make modifications.
House Bill 86 was passed by a bipartisan majority in the Senate on Dec. 6 and proposed changing certain aspects of Issue 2’s statutes — raising the taxation rate on the sale of marijuana, halving the home-grow plant limit and providing a marijuana conviction expungement pathway, among other stipulations.
Deliberation over issues like the tax rate and to where the tax revenue will be allocated contributed to the bill’s standstill in the House of Representatives, where further progress is on hold until the House reconvenes Wednesday.
After the Legislature comes to an agreement on rules, the first legal recreational marijuana sales are estimated to occur late this year — the end of a nine-month license approval period for the newly established Division of Cannabis Control within the Ohio Department of Commerce.
Among Ohio residents watching and waiting for the marijuana legislation to be ironed out is Matt Cooper, manager at the Holistic Cloud 2.0, which has sold consumable, legal hemp and cannabis-related products in the Fort Steuben Mall for about two years. Under the 2018 Fam Bill, hemp and other cannabis derivatives with no more than .3 percent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol — the compound responsible for marijuana’s psychoactive effects — on a dry weight basis were removed from the federal controlled substances list.
A Martins Ferry resident, Cooper has been an active voice in the push for marijuana legalization, helping collect signatures for the Issue 2-initiated statute.
Cooper expressed disapproval of the Senate’s proposed changes to Issue 2’s statutes, which he said “tried to gut everything about (Issue 2.)”
A particular change Cooper mentioned involved the distribution of excise tax revenue. In the bill, revenue was eliminated for a social equity and jobs fund — benefiting a business assistance program for certain minority groups in high unemployment areas — and added for new funds, including ones for law enforcement and safe driver training.
“It would’ve taken a lot out of it for the little guy,” said Cooper, adding that the bill proposed limiting the maximum amount of recreational dispensary licenses to be distributed.
With factors in flux, stores like Holistic Cloud 2.0 can only wait and see how legislation resolves. Cooper said he hopes his shop, which has another location in Bellaire, can become a recreational marijuana dispensary, further hoping that the finalized provisions stay faithful to the original initiative Ohioans voted for.
The Holistic Cloud 2.0 likely will not be the only store seeking a recreational dispensary license later in the year. Sunnyside, a medical marijuana dispensary chain with a location in Wintersville, announced it will be quick to pursue a license. Medical marijuana became legal in Ohio in 2016, and sales began in January 2019.
Other local legal hemp shops have expressed interest in expanding into the recreational market, said Asaad Alhawshabi, owner of One Love Vape in Steubenville. Despite the surrounding excitement, Alhawshabi said he is more reluctant to expand. His concern is whether regulations will be too extensive, possibly requiring stores to open separate locations to act as recreational dispensaries.
“I’m not going to carry it even if it’s passed because it’s going to be too much,” Alhawshabi said. “I’m good with this right now. Not too much and not too slow.”
The Holistic Cloud 2.0 and One Love Vape are examples of retailers in Jefferson County that sell legal hemp products, which contain compounds structurally similar to THC, known as analogs, or the non-psychoactive compound cannabidiol.
Cooper said these products are popular with individuals, particularly older ones, who desire help with inflammation, pain or appetite. Higher potency products and CBD may also aid individuals in recovery from opioid addiction with their withdrawal, he said.
To date, the Food and Drug Administration has only approved one cannabis-derived and three cannabis-related drug products, which are only available through prescription.
Cooper said he wants to keep these products available for people even in a legal marijuana market, where they can become overshadowed. He hopes lawmakers will consider special licensing for selling these products to ensure lab-tested quality and that they are sold only in “reputable” stores by employees with in-depth knowledge of their unique effects and qualities.
Cooper himself is a recovering addict who has been clean for nine years, and he’s been an activist for cannabis for around seven years, preaching “responsible cannabis use across the board.” His passion within recent years has been studying the cannabis plant to help consumers be more informed and help “lower the stigma that cannabis is just for lazy stoners.”
When it comes to marijuana itself — potentially with at least 35 percent THC content in plant material and 90 percent in extracts, dependent on legislation — Cooper preaches responsible usage.
The current law under Issue 2 permits the possession of 2.5 ounces of cannabis flower and 15 grams of concentrates on one’s person, though individuals can be prosecuted if found to be driving while using or under the influence of cannabis. To that, Cooper advised people to “be smart (and) be responsible,” remaining aware of their individual tolerance, not driving while under the influence and keeping the drug out of the driver’s seat, in proper containers and stored in a glove compartment or the trunk.
“You should still be prosecuted for driving under the influence. Being responsible is No. 1,” Cooper said. “You know yourself — are you safe to drive or not? Everybody’s tolerance is different. … With cannabis, you never lose cognitive function. … People try to compare cannabis and alcohol (but) you’ll never smoke enough that you’ll black out.”